PURPOSE: We are a professional society whose mission is to promote the study of history through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. We seek to bring students and teachers together for intellectual and social exchanges, which promote and assist historical research and publication by our members in a variety of ways.

ELIGIBILITY: All members of the honor society are inducted through the local Phi Alpha Theta chapter at their respective college or university. Our one-time initiation fee of $50.00 per student is payable at the time of initiation. This fee includes a membership certificate and four issues of our journal, The Historian. Membership in Phi Alpha Theta is a lifetime membership. Each chapter, however, may levy whatever dues or fees it deems necessary to promote its own local activities. Thereafter, there are no annual dues or fees. Members who wish to continue supporting the honor society may do so by subscribing to The Historian and/or to our newsletter.

Undergraduate Students: Undergraduate students must complete a minimum of 12 semester hours (4 courses) in History, achieve a minimum GPA of 3.1 in History and a GPA of 3.0 or better overall. A maximum of 3 credit hours of online, transfer, or AP credits may be applied to the membership eligibility requirement. Membership is not limited to History majors. The chapter advisor has the discretion of making eligibility requirements for his/her chapter more (but not less) stringent than the national requirement.

Graduate Students: Graduate students should have completed a minimum of 12 semester hours towards their Masterís Degree in History, have a GPA of better than 3.5, and shall have completed approximately 30% of the residence requirements for the Masterís Degree.

Faculty Members:
Faculty members above the rank of Instructor who teach History automatically qualify. Faculty members pay the same $50 induction fee and receive the same membership privileges. We encourage our Faculty Advisors to invite their fellow faculty to join Phi Alpha Theta.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES:

Each initiate receives an official certificate of membership and a one-year subscription to the society's The Historian journal.†

Phi Alpha Theta chapters host annual regional meetings throughout the country. Regional meetings are an extremely important part of our organization, giving our student members and faculty the opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and present papers on their research. This link will give you a good idea of the locations where the regional meetings are held from year to year.

Every two years, the Phi Alpha Theta national office hosts a Biennial Convention. The location of each convention changes every two years. Biennial Conventions offers students the perfect opportunity to present a paper at a national conference and network with fellow historians. Graduate and undergraduate students are welcome to give a paper, as well as students who have graduated.

Membership is lifetime

The names of all new members are published in the Society's Historian journal

Members may purchase graduation regalia and other merchandise

Members are eligible to apply for Phi Alpha Theta's numerous prizes and awards.